As the saying goes, you come at the king, you best not miss. For all of his personal foibles, there’s no question that President Trump reigns supreme over the art of putting on a prime-time performance, and Democrats proved their grievous error in trying to beat him at his single best game with their pathetic display at Tuesday’s State of the Union.
The State of the Union has long deserved to be devoided of its staid veneer, and perhaps Democrats just instigated the inevitable. But there’s little question that their decision to use the address as an opportunity to stick it to Trump has thoroughly backfired.
When the Democratic women wore white last year and decided to chide Trump at every turn, they did so having just reclaimed the House from Republicans and successfully cajoling Trump into ending his government shutdown without a semblance of an immigration victory. To the victor goes the spoils, and in the case of our televised and stupid times, that means bragging rights.
Last night was a different story.
On the eve of his inevitable acquittal from his impeachment trial, Trump was triumphant. But rather than relegate to his usual braggadocio, Trump trotted out statistics and a number of feel-good made-for-TV moments. The first lady issued a Presidential Medal of Freedom during the address! Trump reunited an Army wife with her husband serving in Afghanistan! Trump gave out a scholarship to an underprivileged kid! Trump honored one of the first black fighter pilots — and his great-grandson!
The monarchical schtick of the State of the Union is annoyingly saccharine as a tradition, but what option do you have watching the event live than to clap for war heroes and declarations of real wage growth? If you’re a Democrat, you decide you have one. You can spend the night on your phone, squirming in your seat like a second-grader, or you can straight-up walk out.
Wearing all white in 2019 when Trump just suffered defeat pulled Democrats into the world of reality television optics, and it worked in the short-term. But Trump would always best them at the game of performance, and last night proved it didn’t take much time to bait them into looking like brats.
And like that, Trump trolled his opponents into giving him the best possible edit of the night. Democrats let the producer play them for fools, and Trump finally got to position himself as the adult in the room.
